Accused jewelry-store burglar sues Portsmouth detective

PORTSMOUTH — An inmate charged with smash-and-grab burglaries at jewelry stores in two states, including two at the same Deer Street jeweler, filed a federal lawsuit against a local police detective, claiming the officer illegally obtained his DNA.

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By Elizabeth Dinan

seacoastonline.com

By Elizabeth Dinan

Posted Sep. 3, 2014 at 2:00 AM

By Elizabeth Dinan
Posted Sep. 3, 2014 at 2:00 AM

» Social News

PORTSMOUTH — An inmate charged with smash-and-grab burglaries at jewelry stores in two states, including two at the same Deer Street jeweler, filed a federal lawsuit against a local police detective, claiming the officer illegally obtained his DNA.

The inmate, James Radler, 52, is asking a federal judge to award him $10,000 for "physical suffering" and $100,000 for "emotional and psychological suffering."

He's also asking the court to order that five Massachusetts jail officers and Portsmouth Police Detective Timothy Cashman be suspended with pay, or fired, "for the gross dereliction of duty in the allowing of the physical intrusion of the plaintiff's body without the proper legal documentation or paperwork."

Radler filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts and alleges that on March 12, Cashman took DNA swabs from inside his mouth in spite of his assertion that a warrant for the DNA was signed by Portsmouth Circuit Court Judge Sawako Gardner and therefore invalid in Massachusetts. Radler was incarcerated at the Essex County House of Corrections in Middleton, Mass., at the time.

"This was done by invading (Radler's) mouth twice with two wooden sticks (approximately 6 inches long) and scraping the inside of his mouth, the second time causing him to gag, cutting the inside of his mouth," Radler claims. "This caused severe undue emotional and physical pain, humiliation and suffering."

Radler alleges in his lawsuit that he raised an objection to the warrant being from New Hampshire and not Massachusetts, and claims he asked for a supervisor or be allowed to call his lawyer, but was told he "wasn't going to see anyone" and could not call his lawyer.

"The warrant clearly states that it is valid in New Hampshire and was not accompanied by anything whatsoever signed or co-signed by any authorities from Massachusetts, where I was in custody at the time, for Massachusetts charges," Radler claims.

His lawsuit claims he filed complaints with jail staff through an inmate grievance process, but was instructed that it wasn't something that could be grieved because it was "a legal issue."

Portsmouth City Attorney Bob Sullivan said the city has not been formally served with the federal lawsuit and that he has no knowledge of the facts surrounding the allegations at this time.

"We will start to figure out what needs to be done," he said.

Portsmouth Police allege that on Feb. 8 and Feb. 22, 2013, Radler used a 30-pound dumbbell and a sledgehammer to break glass windows to twice burglarize the Chrisrial & Co. Fine Jewelry store.

He is also accused of burglarizing multiple jewelry stores in Massachusetts, where authorities allege he stole at least a half-million dollars worth of jewelry. Dumbbells and sledge hammers were used to break windows during those burglaries, according to police.

Blood found at the scene of one of the stores has linked Radler to some of the crimes, police allege.